Moto 360 gets Android update with Wi-Fi support

New Android Wear features finally come to the Motorola smartwatch
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We've been living with the refreshed and refined Android Wear on the LG Watch Urbane for a while now. So it's good news for Moto 360 owners that you can finally get in on the action - the Android 5.1.1 Lollipop update is currently rolling out to all Motorola smartwatches.

What does that mean? Well, with no Moto 360 2 in sight, owners of the original round-faced smartwatch are getting some pretty exciting features in the form of Wi-Fi support for when your phone isn't around, as well as always-on apps, a new launcher, emojis and gesture controls for scrolling through Google Now cards.

Essential reading: Moto 360 Sport guide

The Moto 360 update was confirmed at the end of last week by Wayne Piekarski, a senior development advocate at Google, on Google Plus. Why the wait? The reason given by Motorola for not pushing it out earlier was performance and battery issues. If yours hasn't come through yet, just remember these things can take a few days to catch everyone.

All in all, it's a huge update to Android Wear but there's still work to do. In our updated review of the OS we said: "In our testing we've found the updates coming over Wi-Fi, when not tethered to a phone, hit and miss at best."

Hands-on: Moto 360 2015 edition review

Still, there's lots more to come, Google Now is improving all the time and though the Apple Watch already boasts more apps, Google is clearly very committed to making Android Wear a solid, useful platform.


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Sophie was Wareable's associate editor. She joined the team from Stuff magazine where she was an in-house reviewer. For three and a half years, she tested every smartphone, tablet, and robot vacuum that mattered. 

A fan of thoughtful design, innovative apps, and that Spike Jonze film, she is currently wondering how many fitness tracker reviews it will take to get her fit. Current bet: 19.

Sophie has also written for a host of sites, including Metro, the Evening Standard, the Times, the Telegraph, Little White Lies, the Press Association and the Debrief.

She now works for Wired.


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